Step 2 - Cadaver Trimming Clinic

Step 2 — Cadaver Trimming Clinic

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Following the successful completion of Step 1 ("Independent Study"), students will advance to one of the Step 2 hands-on Cadaver Trimming Clinics offered by our clinicians. These run for seven to nine or more days – depending upon the individual clinician and whether or not they are including Step 3 ("Sequencing") as part of their Step 2 clinic.

Clinic Fees

Clinic fees are set by individual clinicians. Clinicians are paid directly by students. Do not pay the ISNHCP for your Step 2 training!

Choose your clinician

The ISNHCP requires that students contact their Step 2 clinician after making your Step 1 Independent Study payment (above). The purpose of this is to let your clinician know you will be registering and training with them. If you are undecided between two or more clinicians, then contact them all to say as much and that you will be making a decision soon. This will open an important dialogue between the two of you in preparation for attending their clinic. They need to know as far in advance as possible who will be training with them so they can prepare for your participation. Please note that our clinicians are willing to work with students if their posted schedule will absolutely not work with you. Please email them to discuss finding a suitable time that is mutually agreeable.

Also, so that our clinicians know as much about you as possible, we are asking you to consider submitting your application to the clinician you will be training with at the time you contact them. Our clinicians are required to ask you for your permission to get the application, however, and the decision to accommodate their request is yours alone – this is not a requirement as your application is held with strict confidentiality by the ISNHCP. You are free to redact any personal information (home address, phone numbers, etc.) from the application. The clinicians are principally interested in your motivations for entering our program, your background relating to horses, current trimming skills and past training, heath issues that might affect your ability to do this work, and your previous professional work if pertinent.

Go to the Home page menu "Our Clinicians" to select your Step 2 clinician. You can also go to the Home page menu "Clinic Dates" or here to see our clinician's schedules.

Tools and Equipment

Students must arrive with all required tools and equipment for this Step 2 clinic, as was explained in the Step 1registration page. Your clinicians will introduce you to their appropriate use and make sure that your trimming attire properly fits you.

Go here or to the Home page drop down menu "Student Store" > "Tools & Equipment" to see what you must purchase to attend this clinic. These items are professional quality and represent an extremely important investment in your forthcoming career as an ISNHCP practitioner. Most of the tools and the equipment are unique to our work, and have evolved over the years for that purpose. Most farriers and barefoot trimmers not trained to our model have never heard of them, nor, as the ISNHCP has learned, would they know how to use them appropriately for the natural trim when they do have them.

Do not purchase cheap "substitute" tools or equipment from other sources, as invariably, these do not work for our purposes as NHC practitioners. Be forewarned -- Step 2 clinicians are authorized to deny you participation in their clinics if you arrive with unauthorized tools and equipment! Borrowing other student's tools/equipment is also not acceptable. The ISNHCP will require you to reschedule your Step 2 clinic at a later date and with the same tools/equipment requirements.

Sequencing Requirement (Step 3)

As stated above, your clinician may elect to include the Step 3 Sequencing Clinic as part of their Step 2 clinic. If this is the case, their Step 2 clinic fee will include both clinics. You must confirm this with the clinician with whom you plan to train. If sequencing is not offered as part of your Step 2 training module, then you must meet this requirement either with another clinician or with your Step 2 clinician if they are holding a separate sequencing clinic at a later date. You can also petition your Step 2 clinician to schedule a private clinic or a group one with other students who have also petitioned for one.

Go to Step 3 (Sequencing Clinic) for more information on ISNHCP sequencing requirements that must be met by all students.

A message from Jaime Jackson about the Step 2 Cadaver Trim training module

﻿ This strategically important clinic unites the foundational principles of the natural trim based on the wild horse model with actual trimming. Students are taught the basics of measuring and trim mechanics using cadaver hooves. Using cadavers is a long standing tradition of the ISNHCP (and the AANHCP before the ISNHCP took over training) to introduce beginners to the artful science of the natural trim. Mistakes made are expected of beginners, but cadavers preclude injury that would otherwise occur to a live horse. Your clinician will guide you in an orderly way through the basic natural trim steps that you will be examined on later in the program on live horses, and which you will carry with you one day into the field as an experienced trimmer and representative of our vital mission in the field.